Invisible String (w|w high school romance)

The Beanie

Riley POV:

It was now March and even though the pain wasn't fully gone, my heart was starting to feel a little bit lighter. Harper and I still didn't talk much, but it was better than before. We didn't totally avoid each other anymore. If we saw each other in the hallway we would give each other small smiles. Occasionally we would whisper a hello to each other but it was never more than that.

I had finally given up trying to get her back. She was done with me and I guess I would just have to accept that.

But something happened today that broke my heart all over again.

I was sitting in calc first period and if you hadn't guessed, Harper and I didn't walk to first period together anymore. So I was sitting in my seat when Harper strolled in and my heart shattered to pieces.

She was wearing my beanie. My favorite Scranton Soccer beanie. The one that I thought I had lost all that time ago when I was drunk. A good thing about that I guess is that I haven't drank since, or gone to any parties for that matter. 

I remembered now where it went. I had given it to Harper when I taught her how to skateboard. I figured that if she kept my beanie, she probably has some of my other missing clothes as well. She saw me staring at her but she ignored me and walked over to her new seat in the back. If she had realized why I was staring, she didn't care.

The little bit of hope I had shattered. I had thought that maybe if she kept some of my stuff that maybe she still had feelings for me, but I guess not. If she can ignore me like that then she definitely doesn't love me anymore.

My eyes started to pool with tears and I knew that I had to leave. I stood up, wiping my eyes on my sleeve before picking up my back pack and slinging it over one shoulder. As I approached the door, Mr. Keen the calc teacher walked in and the bell rang.

"Riley Sader, where are you going?" he questioned but I ignored him. I pushed past him and walked out the door.

I don't know why but I was starting to panic. My body was shaking and tears were blurring my vision. My mind was racing a million miles a minute and I couldn't think straight. All I knew was that I needed to leave so I started speed walking towards the front door of the school. 

"Riley wait!" I heard a voice call from behind me but I was too out of it to register who it was. As my shaking continued I approached the front door and pushed it open, stepping out into the cold March air.

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Harper POV:

"Riley wait!" I called but she ignored me and kept walking. I went to follow after her but someone grabbed my arm. I spun around to find myself face to face with Josh.

"Harper I got this. It's probably better if your not the one to follow after her anyways." he said quietly and I nodded my head. I don't even know what I was thinking. I fucked up bad this morning. I had found Riley's beanie among my stuff and I held it up to my face. It still smelled like her and tears had filled my eyes.

I don't know why but I decided to wear the beanie. For some reason it made me feel closer to her. Anytime I wore her clothes I always felt safe. But I never should've worn it to school. I realized my mistake the second her eyes locked onto mine.

When she saw that I was wearing her beanie her eyes lit up but then I kept walking, ignoring her. I saw her face fall and tears fill her eyes. I would've kept on ignoring her but then she got up and left the room, causing something in me to snap.

I quickly got up to follow her out of the room. "Miss Fields where do you think your going?" Mr. Keen questioned. I ignored him and walked past him out the door. From behind me I could hear him talking more. "Not you too Mr Ashton! Detention for all three of you!" he shrieked after us. But I didn't care if I had detention, I just wanted to make sure Riley was okay.

It's weird. It's been months since we broke up but I still can't get her out of my head. Thankfully Josh stopped me from following her because if he hadn't, nothing would've. If I had followed her out of the building and saw her looking all broken then my resolve would've melted away. I would have instantly forgotten about everything that happened between us and just tried to comfort her.

But that can't happen. As much as I still love her, she's going to leave me at the end of the summer anyways and I can't bear to have to go through that heart break. I'd rather suffer now so that I can hopefully forget about her next year instead of breaking up later.

In reality though, either way Riley will forever be on my mind. She's the love of my life and as much as I try to stop it, I can't ever stop loving her.

So I have to let her go.

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Riley POV:

I heard the door open and I looked back to see Josh standing at the door. When he saw my crazed state he quickly sat down on the concrete steps next to me and wrapped an arm around me.

He held me as I cried and rubbed circles on my back until my body slowly stopped shaking. When I calmed down I pulled back from the hug and leaned back against the steps, looking up at the sky.

"Riley she's still in love with you." he said quietly. I shook my head and rubbed the tears out of my eyes.

"Yes she is." he insisted. "You can't give up on each other."

I shook my head harder this time. "I-I c-can't go though t-that again Josh. I-I've t-tried for months to win her b-back. She's d-done with m-me. I-If I try again she's just going to b-break my h-heart all over again." I stammered as tears starting gently flowing down my cheeks.

Josh once again pulled me into a hug. He held me as a cried. I reached around him, balling up my fists into his hoodie.

When I stopped crying again I pulled back and gave Josh a weak smile. "Thanks for being here for me." I said quietly and he nodded. "Always dude." he replied.

We sat there on the front steps for a while, just watching the cars drive by. "You know we both got detention right?" Josh said before chuckling slightly. I started laughing with him, causing him to laugh even harder.

"Oh fuck Mr. Keen." I said as I continued laughing. "Yeah fuck him." Josh agreed.

When our laughter died down Josh spoke again. "Are you doing spring league for soccer?" he asked. "You know I am." I replied.

"Is Harper doing it?" he questioned.

"I don't wanna talk about her." I said quietly and he nodded. "We'll find out at the first game I guess."

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I apologize that the last two chapters have been so short. They are kind of just filler chapters. I am building up to something big though so these filler chapters are necessary. If you like this story please don't forget to vote and comment. More chapters will be out soon!